University of North Florida
Jacksonville
UNF holds off JU in 'Rumble'
2/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 9, 2007
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida men's tennis team upended cross-town rival Jacksonville University 4-3 on Friday afternoon at the Keith Watson Family Tennis Complex in their SunTrust River City Rumble matchup.
UNF swept doubles play to capture the doubles point out of the gates and then held on to take down the upset-minded Dolphins (1-2, 0-1 A- Sun) with victories from Eduardo Pereira at No. 2 singles, Ben Smith at No. 5 and Leonardo Gomes at the No. 6 spot.
The Ospreys (1-4, 1-0 A-Sun) also earned a valuable point in the SunTrust River City Rumble standings for UNF, which now leads the competition 7-4. The Ospreys needs 11 points to win the all- sports trophy and possession of the SunTrust Old Wooden Barrel.
Pereira defeated Francisco Riveroll 7-6 (8), 6-2 in singles to clinch the match victory for the Ospreys. Smith knocked off JU's Vinicius Craveiro, 6- 2, 6-1, while Gomes downed Marcos Oliveira, 6-1, 7- 5.
In doubles play, the team of Gomes and Javier Ferrin battled to a 9-8 win over JU's Jordi Ballester and Ernesto Ramos as the No. 1 position, while Elad Gabay and Yuiti Lopes cruised to relatively easy win at No. 2 doubles. The No. 3 position was a tight duel as well, with Elad Gabay and Pereira teaming up to defeat Oliveira and Riveroll, 8-6.
"We are happy to get our first win of the season," UNF head coach Igal Buberman said. "The team is very focused on achieving its goal of finishing undefeated in conference, and we started on the right foot. We have a long way to go, but hard work and commitment are going to take us there."
After playing its first five matches on the road - including three against teams ranked in the top 40 nationally - the Ospreys will return home on Saturday to play their home opener. UNF faces Georgia Southern at 11 a.m. and Florida A&M at 4 p.m. at the UNF Tennis Complex.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Players Mentioned
